Cool Neighbors

Monday, August 2, 2010

Meet Nightbitch, bitches!

~all photos above and below from rev. aaron michael pepelis

Sure the new Danzig record is better than expected, but if you really want a dose of some sleazy hard rock action, you should look a little closer to home, look to Connecticut's own Nightbitch.Their mission is simple."We have a manifesto for this band, which is wicked women, unholy passion and fire nights," said guitarist Ryan Adams.What, you may ask, is a fire night? According to Adams it's a night of crazed rock'n'roll debauchery, one where you drop all inhibitions and go crazy like your life depended on it. You can dress any way you like."If any of us owned a pair of leather pants, we would wear them to a fire night," said Adams.So leather pants, or no pants, Nightbitch delivers the goods. They merge the best of traditional metal and hard rock and combine it with the sweaty hip thrust of the first few Danzig records.The band formed about a year ago when Adams, who also plays in recently signed to Metal Blade black metallers Ipsissimus, was looking to start another project, one that combined his love of classic metal and hard rock. First he needed a strong vocalist. A mutual friend introduced him to powerhouse vocalist Phil Swanson, of critically acclaimed underground metal duo Hour Of 13. Swanson liked what he heard and the band which also includes Chris Taylor on drums and Mark Eles on bass, was formed.But first they needed a name, on that would fit the band's musical and aesthetic outlook. You would think this would be the hard part, but it was actually easier than expected."We wanted to come up with the sleaziest name we could. One that would fit the music and concept of the band. One of us just blurted out the name at practice and we all said, 'That's it'," said Adams.They have a demo out and it's filled with tales of sex and magic, werewolves copulating and even ritual masturbation. It's all very lurid, very virile and very awesome.They plan to release the demo as a cassette through the No Visible Scars label in August. There will two versions of it. The standard edition will include a pin, a sticker as well as an insert, while the special edition will feature all the above goodies, but will be wrapped in leather and stamped with a sigil.Adams said releasing it on cassette is good way to weed out the true from the false out there, plus it's a cool way to present the music, one that fits well with the band's aesthetic.There will also be a vinyl version of it available in October, released through Iron Age vocalist's Jason Tarpey's Cyclopean Records.On the live the front, the band has played a few local shows and even opened for Pentagram, but come September, they take Nightbitch international, as they travel to Dublin, Ireland, to be part of the Dublin Doom Day, an international fest of doom metal bands.For the actual show, they will be backing Swanson for an Hour Of 13 set, but the night before the show, they will get a chance to spread the Nightbitch gospel as they play a pre-show gig as a warm up.All this attention is all good to Adams, who is pleasantly surprised at how far the band has gone in such a short time, especially a band with such modest, yet praiseworthy goals."We just want to bring a sleazy swagger to Connecticut," said Adams.Well, amen to that. So break out your leathers for a fire night, because Nightbitch is coming, or is that...err, cumming your way. Lock up your daughters.